Government of  Tamilnadu, realising the need to extend the benefits of development to the villages  of Tamilnadu, decided to select the stretches of roads in 23 corridors for widening and strengthening to two lanes. This project aims to bring about alround  development with road infrastructure as base. It has been decided to take up this project in Phases.

Earlier, the East Coast Road from Chennai to Cuddalore for 166 Km  via Pondicherry was improved to two lane facility with Asian Development Bank loan of US $ 24.47 Million in 1993 - 1998. This resulted in  benefits to the people in the coastal region. This project is a part of East Coast Road  from Chennai to Kanyakumari for 737 Km. Hence coastal road from Nagapattinam to Tuticorin has been selected as Phase I. The other corridors have been selected in Phase IA to give equal importance to roads in different regions.